Off the Pitch

An international women's sevens soccer series is set to launch before the Women's Champions League final in May with a $5 million prize pool per edition, organizers said on Thursday.

"World Sevens Football" was co-founded by Jennifer Mackesy, co-owner of the American NWSL club Gotham FC and the WSL's Chelsea. The Guardian reported there is a commitment to invest $100 million in the series over a five-year period.

Women's World Sevens

The 2025 MLS All-Star Game once again will pit the league's top players against a team of All-Stars from Mexico's LIGA MX on July 23 in Austin, Texas.

It's the fourth time using that format for the showcase, previously done in 2021, 2022 and 2024.

2025 MLS All-Star game

Promotion and relegation is really happening. The United Soccer League (USL) announced on Wednesday it will be implementing a relegation system featuring three tiers by 2028 after a supermajority of club owners voted yes on the idea. 

This system won’t include Major League Soccer which has historically been opposed to the idea.

An Antonee Robinson injury is the last news that United States men’s national team fans wanted to hear ahead of the Concacaf Nations League semifinal on Thursday vs. Panama. Robinson is one of three U.S. players named to the initial roster that will be unavailable.

Johnny Cardoso and Auston Trusty will also miss the Nations League final four due to injury.

Antonee Robinson injury

New year, new club... same old Ramos.

Sergio Ramos, the veteran center-back now playing for Liga MX club Monterrey, has once again found himself at the center of controversy, this time for an incident during his team’s Clausura 2025 match against Pumas UNAM on Sunday night.

Ramos was sent off with a straight red card in stoppage time for kicking Pumas striker Guillermo Martínez after the ball had gone out of play. The incident appeared to be the typical "lashing out" from the Spanish defender, a trademark of his career when frustration boils over.

UEFA said the correct decision was made to disallow Julian Alvarez's penalty in Atletico Madrid's Champions League loss to city rivals Real Madrid on Wednesday but European soccer's governing body would enter discussions to review the rule.

A livid Atletico enquired with UEFA after Alvarez had his shootout penalty ruled out by the referee in their last-16 tie that saw Real reach the quarter-finals of Europe's elite club competition.

BUENOS AIRES — Argentina began a long-awaited trial on Tuesday of the medical team for soccer star Diego Maradona, over four years after his death in 2020, in a case that has riled emotions in the South American country where the World Cup winner is still revered.

Maradona's family, lawyers and his former nurses, brain surgeon and psychiatrist accused of homicide by negligence, arrived at the court on the outskirts of capital city Buenos Aires in what promises to be a drama-filled and lengthy saga.

MANCHESTER — Manchester United plan to build a new $2.59 billion 100,000-seat stadium that will be the biggest in Britain, next to the existing Old Trafford, the club announced on Tuesday.

"Today marks the start of an incredibly exciting journey to the delivery of what will be the world's greatest football stadium, at the center of a regenerated Old Trafford," United's co-owner Jim Ratcliffe said in a statement.

Inter Miami are in hot water with their own fans after Lionel Messi didn’t appear in the matchday squad for Thursday’s Concacaf Champions Cup home game vs. Cavalier. 

Inter Miami gave no indication or warning that Messi wouldn’t be available for the game until the lineup was released. This left fans outraged as they paid top dollar to see him play at Chase Stadium only to learn he wouldn’t be on the field.

The backlash online came in droves.

Fans react to Messi absence vs Cavalier